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Herodotus · Histories §4.176.1

Gindanes Women and the Custom of Leather Anklets

Passage 740 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Introducing the custom of the Gindanes, where women wear a leather anklet for each man they have associated with, and the one with the most is considered the best.

§4.176.1Μακέων δὲ τούτων ἐχόμενοι Γινδᾶνες εἰσί, τῶν αἱ γυναῖκες περισφύρια δερμάτων πολλὰ ἑκάστη φορέει κατὰ τοιόνδε τι, ὡς λέγεται· κατʼ ἄνδρα ἕκαστον μιχθέντα περισφύριον περιδέεται· ἣ δὲ ἂν πλεῖστα ἔχῃ, αὕτη ἀρίστη δέδοκται εἶναι ὡς ὑπὸ πλείστων ἀνδρῶν φιληθεῖσα.
Bordering these Macae are the Gindanes, whose women each wear many leather anklets for some such reason as this, so it is said: for every man who has associated with her, she binds an anklet on her ankle; and she who has the most is deemed to be the best, as having been loved by the greatest number of men.

Notes

  1. §4.176.1Μακέων δὲ τούτων ἐχόμενοι — ἐχόμενοι is a present middle-passive participle taking the genitive Μακέων, meaning "bordering upon" or "next to."
  2. §4.176.1κατʼ ἄνδρα ἕκαστον μιχθέντα — The preposition κατά has a distributive sense ("for each"), governing the accusative ἄνδρα ἕκαστον μιχθέντα ("every man who has associated with her"). μιχθέντα is the aorist passive participle of μείγνυμι ("to mingle, have intercourse").
  3. §4.176.1ἣ δὲ ἂν πλεῖστα ἔχῃ — The relative pronoun ἥ combined with ἄν and the subjunctive ἔχῃ forms a general conditional relative clause ("whoever has the most").
  4. §4.176.1ὡς ... φιληθεῖσα — The particle ὡς with the passive participle φιληθεῖσα (aorist passive participle feminine singular of φιλέω "to love") expresses a subjective reason or characterization ("as having been loved").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.176.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.176.1

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